The IWA
by Stalking dream
Summary: A meteor has struck the Nuclear Power plant of a small island called Tide on the east coast of England. Only it wasn't a normal meteor. It contained a horrible extraterrestrial monster called The Obsidian. When children start getting supernatural powers, all people older than 15 dissapear, and a giant dome appear around the island, chaos takes over. Welcome to the IWA. SYOC open.
1. Introduction and character sheet

The Wallflower

"Mom?!"

A silent rustle reached the ears of Ismene Blooms. She didn't know what it was, nor did she wanted to wait for it to reveal itself. Laury had never been brave, she was the type of person that stood silently in a corner to wait for everything to work itself out. Every day people died because they were trying to be a hero, well, let those others die while trying to save another. She just hides while others are risking her life, resulting in them getting famous and her being just another nobody. Nobody expected anything of her, not even when the need was highest. That are the perks of being a Wallflower.

"MOM!"

"Yes, honey. What's the problem?"

"We're out of animal food and milk! Angel and Demon are starving!"

"Oh honey, they're not starving. Cats can hunt their own food."

"Well they can't, mum."

"I'll go get some this afternoon, when I get back from work okay?"

"Okay."

This might look like a very futile thing, but for Icy her two kittens meant everything. They were practically her only friends. The girl cared for them so badly that she would even give her own food just to keep the two animals alive.

_Oh, I wish they just had food._ She silently wished.

Poof.

She stared anxiously around her (It doesn't surprise you if I would tell you Isy was kind of a scaredy cat), looking for the cause of the noise, while jumping in surprise at the look of two neat bowls of animal food. They weren't supposed to be there.

Ismene stared at it in awe, slightly disturbed but the strange occurence. She thought of something, and all of a sudden it was there.

"Icy, get here! You're almost late for school!"

"I'm coming mom!"

She scurried down the stairs, face paper-white.

"Come here for a kiss, little kitty."

Her mother pulled her closer and gave her a pek on the cheek, while nearly suffocating her in a bear-hug.

"Do well on your first day back."

Ismene had been terribly ill for the past few months. None of the doctors had been able to put a finger on it. But eventually she got well enough to get back to school, and even though she had missed a lot and she would probably have to do this year over, it wouldn't hurt to try. It was even her own decision. Because if there is one thing you need to know about being a wallflower: Being ill for a long time, not going to school attracts attention, and that was everything she didn't want.

She never liked being in the center of all attention, but right now, after what she had seen today, she wanted to be invisible, more than she ever wanted anything else in her life.

The Leader

"That needs better. Focus on your anger." Mary Jones commanded a 9-year old girl, who was trying to raise water with her power. Mary was the leader of a little Freak club, in Gold Academy.

The little girl nodded and focussed more, this time managing to raise the water a few inches higher than last time.

"Way better, keep going like that kiddo."

The girl smiled, and instantly the water dropped a few inches. Happy feelings never help if you are trying to control a one-emotion ability like water control. Mary herself had it easy with her Feeling Control. She could insert good and bad feelings. She didn't need to feel fear or anger to make it work. Positive emotions worked just as strong as the negative, but it had the opposing effect. And then you had people like Peter for whom controlling their ability was extremely easy. Peter, who could smell better than a wolf, see more clearly than you could through a microscope and hear whatever happened 10 miles away. His power was definitely extraordinary.

"Anger. You're angry! You're upset the water won't listen! Work it out in anger!"

But Mary knew the little girl wouldn't be able to do it. Not yet, she was still too young to do something like that. That's why she decided to help a little. She concentrated and held her hands in front of her, trying to be as subtile as possible. She let the feeling of anger shoot through her mind and gave it to the girl.

The water suddenly shot up till it almost touched the roof.

"Excellent." Mary smiled, while calling the angry feeling back from the girl, and replacing it with one of happiness.

Mary certainly knew this was cheating, but she just hated seeing people try so hard for something that will take them ages to do right. Besides, channeling one's anger will also help them for the next time, when they know how it's supposed to feel, because she knew her ability was, more or less, based on recalling memories which gives people the feelings she wants to. Too bad for her she never knew what it was.

Somebody tapped softly on her shoulder, so softly she could barely feel it. There was only one person who could tap so softly, only one person who could sneak up to her without her hearing to.

"Is there anything wrong, Peter?" She whispered, knowing that he wouldn't need her to talk any louder. That a whisper was the frequency of a voice he was most comfortable with.

"I hear somebody come to this block. Knowing his footsteps I think it's Mister Reys."

"Okay, thank you."

I turned towards everybody left in the room.

"OKAY, training is over for today! Clean up everything that could be considered suspicious, and have a nice day further!"

Everybody quickly cleaned up all their stuff and got out of the room in the smooth way Mary had drilled them in case something like this would happen. Well, it actually didn't happen that much, but they had been interrupted quite a lot lately.

Mary quickly left the room and locked the door behind her.

The Test Subject

"Say Aaah."

Kyle meadows hated the tests. They were useless and dumb in his eyes.

He opened his mouth and did what they ordered him to do. The man nodded and smiled.

"Good."

What? Did he really thing Kyle wouldn't be able to open my mouth and say aaah, just because he's a kid with a very weird ability? What an ass.

"Now stand up and walk over his line."

Kyle sighed and walked over the red line that just appeared in the high-technological white room. The tests made him wonder if there maybe was something wrong with him. They always gave him that feeling. As if they thought he was some strange creature from the planet mars that wasn't able to understand English or move properly. Not human.

"Okay, now jump."

And he jumped. As he always did. He had to obey them, because he had no life back in the city anyway. His parents were dead. Killed in a house fire. And every single time he wondered if those people had known he was 'different' before his parents died, and killed them. Because the circumstances were very suspicious, and it wasn't his fault, like they insinuated in the beginning.

"Okay, coördination works just fine. Now let's get to the real tests, shall we."

Kyle nodded. He really felt like one of those dashboard-puppets, only able to nod. Yes I'll do this, yes I'll do that. Always the same damn drag, never saying 'No', or coming up for his own rights. He was treated like an animal. Well, they gave him everything he wanted, they weren't that big monsters. The food was way better than usual school food, or even the food most get at home. The lessons were way more fun than the ones in normal schools, because they trained him at what he was good at. Gymnastics. The normal lessons were also a lot more fun than what others get; because of the tiny class of seven members they got through all the boring stuff with the speed of light and his classmates were very nice people, but they never asked him for his opinion. Never was he asked 'Are you alright?' and even though he knew he would always answer he was, even if he wasn't, it still would make him feel less like a caged beast, constantly running around in circles, never breaking out.

"Would you like to change into me, please?"

No. Kyle didn't want to. But he still changed into a perfect replica of the scientist.

The man gasped for breath.

"Unbelievable." He whispered.

The man had seen it so many times, but he never stopped being surprised.

Kyle changed back and looked at the man wearing a poker face, while underneath the mask silently twisting himself in this misery, his anger.

"Can I go now?" He asked, irritated.

He knew it would end here. It always did. Take stupid tests, change into somebody random and then leave.

The man checked his watch, "Oh god, I lost track of time. Of course you can go, Kyle. You did a great job today, as always."

Oh, how flattering. He gave him Kyle a compliment. Now the boy felt _so _much better. Not. He hated this place; he hated it with all his heart. He knew that one day, he would do just as that shadow girl did a few months before.

One day, this would all be over. Then he could have a normal life. He would break free. He would be free, never having to worry about what the next form of personal torture would be. Maybe then he wouldn't lose his sanity?

Yeah, right, like the odds have ever been in his favor.

**Okay, so that was the introduction of some of my characters, mainly to introduce you the 3 types of living you can pick. **

**The first one is the city (It has a school, yes). Nothing is really special about it, just the city... the spots for children from the city are always open.**

**The second one a boarding school called Gold Academy (Comparable to Coates, only with not THAT much criminality. More of some boarding school for rich kids. They also have a club with freaks, obviously). Also, just like the city, the spots for this one are always open, although I don't think you are planning to submit somebody from Gold when the story is in a far stadium, something that IS perfectly possible if you are from the city.**

**And the third way of living is in the institute for gifted kids, comparable to that thing Sam found on his quest to find a water source, although it's much closer to the society and quite different from the one in the books. Also, it's actually common knowledge that the institute is there. They lure children with special talents (And now I'm not talking about being a freak or normal, but talents normal humans like you and I can have) there, and train them. Not everybody with just special talents can get in, you also need to have problems at home or actually no home at all or whatever you can think of, as long as there are family problems. I allow a total of 6 kids from the Institute. 2 spots left for that.**

**Okay, all keep in mind this plot will be ENTIRELY different from the one in the Gone books. Well, I would love to, but I can't spoil it yet. Otherwise there wouldn't be any fun in reading it anymore.**

**You will be able to keep submitting OC's all through the story, because the more characters I have, the better. And in the Gone series you constantly meet new characters, because it's a society. Character submissions can happen through Review or through PM.**

**Name and/or Nickname:**

**Gender:**

**Age:**

**Way of living (One of the 3 things I mentioned above):**

**Special talent (Only applies to children from the Insitute):**

**Appearance and favored clothes:**

**Personality:**

**Background info (No need to tell their entire history, just what you think to be important):**

**Freak or Normal:**

**Power and bars (Max of 4 bars, as I already reached my max of 5-bars):**

**Good/Evil/Trying not to get involved:**

**Anything else (Like things you want me to include, or things you want to happen with your character, how you think their personality will develop):**

Characters (mine or submissions) in alphabetical sequence

Arianna "Ari" Tuent, Female, City/Institute, Freak: Shadow Bending (5 bars)

Calum Patel - 5 years old, Male, City, Freak: Metal Manipulation (3 bars)

Carmen "Pain" - 13 years old, Female, Gold Academy, Freak: Camouflage (3 bars)

Charadonnay "Char" Jem - 9 years old, female, City, Freak: Plant growth (2 bars)

Cody Sheenan - 14 years old, Gold Academy, Freak: Telekinesis (5 bars)

Felicity "Lucky" Stray - 12 years old, Female, Institute, Freak: Disease immumity (2 bars)

Fy Lowel - 12 years old, Male, Gold Academy, Normal

Helena Jem - 9 years old, Female, City, Normal

Ismene "Icy" Blooms - 12 years old, Female, City, Freak: Conjurtion (Unknown)

Jean McCallister - 13 years old, Female, Institute, Freak: Sound Manipulation (3 bars)

Jeremy De Franco - 14 years old, Male, Gold Academy, Freak: Healing (4 bars)

Josh - 14 years old, Male, City, Freak: Super Speed (2 bars)

Kathia "Kat" Jem - 9 years old, Female, City, Normal

Kyle Meadows - 11 years old, Male, Institute, Freak: Shapeshifting (3 bars)

Lena "Dozer" Patel - 14 years old, Female, City, Freak: Kinetic Energy Manipulation (4 bars)

Marian Seleca - 14 years old, Female, City, Freak: Animal communication (2 bars)

Mary Jones - 14 years old, Female, Gold Academy, Freak: Emotion manipulation (4 bars)

May-Anne Rossi - 11 years old, Female, Gold Academy, Freak: Technokinesis (3 bars)

Nami Grant - 14 years old, Female, Gold Academy, Normal

Peter Jemley - 14 years old, Male, Gold Academy, Freak: Enchanted senses (3 bars)

Sarah - 14 years old, Female, City, Normal

Talon Samuels - 10 years old, Male, City, Normal

Timothy "Tim" Blake - 11 years old, Male, City, Freak: Cataloguing (2 bars)

Wen Aytama - 12 years old, Male, Gold Academy, Freak: High Jump (1 bar)

Xanne Bridge - 13 years old, Female, City, Freak: Teleportation (3 bars)


	2. The Freak Club

**Hi everybody, here is the very first chapter (Well, I don't really consider the last one a chapter, that was more some kind of filler).**

_But when the commonwealth had blossomed through hard work and just dealing, when great kings had been conquered in war, wild tribes and mighty peoples brought to heel by force, Carthage, rival of Rome's power, annihilated and all seas and lands lay open, fortune began to rage and throw everything into confusion._

_~De Catilinae Coniuratione by Sallustius (Think about it after reading the chapter, and then you'll hopefully get why I decided to put this quote here)_

3 months before the dome came down

Nami Grant silently sat in a corner.

She had been send to Gold Academy for the first time a few years ago because she wasn't doing very good in school. Not like that had changed. Not that she cared anyway.

Most people found her a creep, but she liked it that way. And being a creep in Gold Academy... well, that's not really an easy title to achieve, definitely if you look at the latest developments, with Mary and her gang.

Nami didn't quite like Mary. Too pretty, too popular, too friendly, and a total freak with an ability of what is called '4 bars' by her other freak friends. apparently that's a lot. No, Nami didn't like her one bit, but she knew it wasn't one-sided hatred, although Mary had always 'believed in her', and was always 'so disappointed' when she did something she wasn't ought to do again.

Her head shot straight up when she heard a silent noise a few halls away. Probably Peter, that freak friend of Mary who is always stalking her like a little puppy. Typically Mary, being able to manipulate your emotions, but not noticing her best friend has a crush on her. Nami didn't like it bit that Peter was sneaking through the halls again, probably spying on everybody around the school, like he always did.

That's why Nami wanted to hurt him. Just because of the hatred boiling through her veins.

She screamed. Loudly and high-pitched. Knowing his senses, that must have hurt.

She heard the boy run away, but the footsteps were soon followed by ones of another. Two big dark blue eyes peak around the corner, soon to be followed by a wave of brown hair and a big smirk.

Nami knew Cody Sheenan all too well, although she wished she didn't. The girl was nearly as bad as Mary, only she was more of a rules-optional, what made her company slightly more bearable. But the cheerful nature of the older kid made Nami annoyed. For her cheerfulness equalized to stupidity.

"You alright?" She asked with a heavy English accent. Cody came from the mainland of Britain, so her accent was slightly different from the people born and raised in Tide.

"I'm fine."

"Are you really? Because I could hear you screaming three blocks further." She stared at the younger girl. "You know, if there's anybody hurting you, just tell me. I'll make that person stop."

Another thing you need to know about Cody Sheenan is her abusive past. Before her parents divorced she was often hit by her father, and in her schools she had always been bullied. It resulted in an empathy for weak little girls who were in pain by the cause of somebody else, especially when that person was a boy.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. I was just trying to scare Peter away because he was spying on me again."

Cody snickered. "Yeah, Peter's habit of spying on people can get annoying. All you need to do is sing under the shower, but, like, really, really off. I promise you, he'll never spy on you again."

Nami's eyes widened. "And that actually _worked_?!"

"Well, that and I threw him against the wall last time I busted him..."

The little girl smiled.

Okay, when she was saying Cody was slightly bearable to be with, it's a big achievement for her. Because Nami hated practically everybody.

And then all of a sudden they both didn't know what to say anymore.

Cody walked a few feet backwards. "Well, by then. Maybe I'll see you around later."

"See you later."

The girl turned her back to Nami and strafed through the hallway, her footsteps silenced by the knee-long converses, although she secretly longed for high heels at that moment. She had always had the feeling it gave an aura of superiority. Too bad it wasn't allowed in Gold, the prison for rich children.

In the back of her mind she was already planning her next plan, one to throw Mary off her little throne. She knew within her heart she wasn't the only one who hated Mary, but she was pretty sure she was the only one who would kill everybody in her path if that meant the little bitch would die. That made her so different from all the other haters. From people like Nami.

But so far no opportunities for killing her had occurred. The first cause was the high security of the academy. Only one room was free from wiretaps and cameras, and even if they noticed there wasn't any surveillance in that room, May-Anne would work things out anyway. But Mary was never alone in that room. The biggest problem, though was that lap-dog of hers, Peter. He would notice it even if he was miles away.

Cody had sunken so deeply in her thoughts she didn't notice the boy before she actually bumped into him.

"Hey, look out where you put your feet." He spat at her.

"Emm, excuse me?"

"You don't own this halls, you know."

Cody stared darkly at the boy.

"Look, Jeremy, I know it probably won't scare you, but if you don't look out I'll bump your head into a wall over and over again till you pass out and watch you bleed to death."

"Yeah, like hell you'll do that." He neared the girl and held his lips only an inch away from Cody's face. "Don't forget my father will ruin you life if you do that. And besides, you know just as well as I do that I won't die."

"Don't have such a high thought of yourself, Pretty Boy."

"Could say the same about you, Puerile Mendicant."

"That's the best you can think of? Puerile Mendicant? What does that even mean?"

He narrowed his eyes, looked Cody in the eyes and snapped "Exactly."

The girl decided not to think about her, but in the back of her mind she was still wondering what Puerile could possibly mean, although she was quite insulted by the 'Mendicant' thing.

Jeremy turned his back to her, nose high, but not before rewarding her a big scowl.

He had gotten quite sick of people like Cody. Arrogant, mean and totally convinced she was better than him. Nobody was better than he was. His father was the president of Italy! And what was her father? Exactly, an abusive delinquent.

The only reason she's even in this school is because of her grandparents, who give all their money to just let her go to a good school. Cody was by far the poorest kid the Academy offered.

Jeremy scurried down the hall to get in time for the freak training. It quickly crossed his mind that Cody was also expected there, but that the girl was running into the wrong direction, but he didn't really bother. Not only her attitude towards him scared him off, but the girl just felt... wrong. He didn't exactly know what it was, but it made him keep a safe distance. He was more into people like Mary, although he would love to take over the lead of the freak club whenever it was available.

The door swayed open when I entered the hallway. Peter... the guy really annoys me, constantly spying on people. But I have to admit, in situations like this he could be really useful. Doors were always open for you, wherever you went.

Getting into the freak club room was always a bit strange. You got used to it, after a while. But if you were new, you would most definitely be impressed by Wen standing on his bar directly under the roof, 2 meter 50 in the sky, or otherwise Carmen fading into the background. By May-Anne's new gadgets, the bursts of water shooting up from a basin and usually there's also Cody throwing stuff around without touching them, probably imagining it are little, defenseless kids she smacked onto the floor to give her a better feeling about herself. Jeremy really couldn't stand the kid. She was always dressed up in cheap clothes, like a hobo.

Jeremy was very judgmental and strongly believed in first impressions. If you didn't look good on the first time you met him, you'll never be able to do any good in his eyes. Well, nobody could actually do anything good to him. His ideals weren't in anybody's league.

"Ah, Jeremy, glad you still came today."

"Why wouldn't I come?"

He did notice the lack of people here. Usually the room was barely big enough for everybody to fit in, now there were only about 5 people.

"Well, you know, some trouble with the surveillance. May-Anne noticed a bug in the system. She suspects they might have been checking upon us the entire time, so most children got too scared to come and practice. They don't want to become some experiment, you know."

Jeremy nodded. He didn't think he had anything to fear about becoming an experiment, due to his father's status, but not everybody here had parents with as much influence as his'.

"Maybe we should find a new room. Preferably a bigger one, this room is really starting to get too small."

"May-Anne is already working on it. She's trying to create a similar loop as the one we had here, but it might not be as easy as last time, even not with her ability."

Jeremy hated to admit it, but they had lots to thank to that girl. Her power made her able to detect all technical objects and gave her the knowledge of the way it worked. If she was being watched by a camera she knew if it was on, what net it was tuned on, the exact reach of what it could see, and how they could tune it out of deceive it.

"And do you think they actually did notice us?"

Mary sighed, and Carmen appeared behind her.

"We need to be prepared for the worst." The chameleon girl whispered.

There was a slight pause. They let the words come to their realization, while desperately trying to think of a way out.

"How did it happen? There's no working technical object that can't be detected by May-Anne!"

"We don't know."

"THINK!" He shouted, thinking he would at least could have prevented that if he would have been in charge.

Mary narrowed her eyes. "A traitor."

_~ __fortune began to rage and throw everything into confusion._

**SO, this was the first chapter, it was kinda short but I hope you liked it. Please tell me what you think and how I can improve it, and most of all: Keep submitting. I can't have too much characters.**


	3. Behind locks for a reason

**Yeah, I know, I've been gone for a very long time. Shortly after I posted the first chapter my computer got taken away due to the approaching exams, and after that I haven't had the time to write. I know, I know, I'm not a regular updater, but I'll try my best for you guys. I have gotten some really interesting characters. A lot of the people on the list are mine, but still I was surprised by the big amount of submissions I got.**

**Btw, it's still open to submissions.**

2 months before the dome came down

Sweat trickled down her spine. Slowly, and only refreshing until the heat of her own body had warmed it up, making it only an unpleasant guest.

Yet it didn't concern her at all. Lately this had become her life, floating between fever and recovery. They just loved sending all sorts of infections on her. In the beginning they didn't affect her at all, thought she was scared it would, but after a while they started sending worse things on her. Diseases that would have completely exhausted or even nearly killed the one who had it; things like Ebola, Malaria and TBC. She was a rarity and she knew it, but not that strong. She could actually feel those strong diseases. She could feel them trying to pull her in, thought all they could afflict was a fever and sometimes exhaustion. But never did she get the real bad side-effects, the ones she had never lasted long, and they were not bad enough to keep her in bed.

Bored, she stared at her nails. Apparently this one had something to do with heat. Perhaps they were trying something different this time, but Felicity stopped caring a long time ago. She even didn't care enough anymore to bother asking which disease they were sending on her this time.

She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes, waiting for the loud bell signal that would announce their lunch break. Felicity hoped the others had had a better morning than she did, but they all knew they shared the same misery. That she was actually one of the Lucky people; her tests didn't require any physical effort, and they didn't break her mental resistance… a lot. There wasn't a scientist constantly asking useless things or poking in her belly or whatever they did in the other tests.

In that way she was lucky, which was why they nicknamed her that. Not that she really was, of course. If she had really been lucky she would have been a normal kid, enjoying her childhood. But then, again, she was lucky. Unlike the others she was not _very _insane.

She heard the lunch bell ring. _Finally!_

Not waiting for somebody to announce she was allowed to go she stood up and walked up to the door. She didn't wait for the door to unlock and tried to open it, as she always did.

But, as always, it didn't open. She banged the door and threw herself in it with all force she could manage. But it didn't open. As always.

"OPEN IT! COME ON, OPEN IT! TIME'S UP, SCUMBAGS!"

"The door will open up in 10.. 9.. 8.."

"Oh, Badness, I don't have all day. Go play your games with somebody else!"

"2… 1… Door unlocked."

She heard a satisfying click. Lucky had to admit that she was a little impatient. But still not insane; oh, no, Felicity Stray would never grow crazy. Or that was what she thought.

She pushed open the door and then ran through the hallway, to get away from her room of nightmares as quickly as possible.

As always she reached the dining room before everybody else. The others were nearly always in the middle of a test they had to complete before they were allowed to go away. Well, that's for the Rookies. The High graders, or that was how the ones who had been staying there for a long time called themselves, always leave rudely, thought for most it wasn't as easy to leave as it was for her. All she had to do was make some noise so they would hurry the cleansing of the room. If you are hanging on a thread above a tank filled with sharks because they wanted to see if you were able to phase through it was a little bit harder to get away. Thought lately the scientist had changed their schemes because now we have gotten so well-trained that we could and would hurt them if they didn't release us when it was time to go. They have gotten us in this position, so I have no sympathy for their troubles to contain us. The creator of the monster is responsible for its action.

Yesterday night they brought in a new 'patient'. His name was Felix or something, but Felicity didn't really care about all that. She would not talk to him either. After all, you can't get emotionally involved with a person of who you are going to close a bet on for the time it will take him to go insane. Actually, it was just bad to get emotionally involved with anyone at all. Every rookie is on his own, and if they can hold it out long enough they even have a chance of joining the High Grader's group. But that nearly ever happens.

Lucky betted he would get in the dining room first. Too polite, scared and impressed to say anything, undergoing the tests with bravery while pretending for the scientists it didn't got to them, while actually it was breaking them inside. Felicity had been there, done that and got over it.

Absentmindedly she looked at the hall leading to the east testing compartments. Kyle came strolling through the hall, lazy smile plastered on his face. She expected him to come in second. He always did. Lucky knew he always looked like he was slacking, and like he didn't care, but she knew damn well that he had been running all the way here.

"So, how's your day going?" She asked.

"Amazing; best day of my life, I mean it."

They both burst out in laughter. That was their joke. Because, really, no good days existed between the cold, grey walls of the Institute for Gifted Children. They had to look at everything on the humorous side. That, or falling prey to insanity, like most of their poor fellas.

"I mean, everybody is _so _friendly here. It's almost as if they really care about me."

Lucky snorted.

"Okay, but enough now about my day. Did you watch that movie yesterday?

"Huh? What movie?"

"You know, the one with the –"

"Wizards." Shelia, the half-red half-purple haired girl finished. Third. As always.

She seated herself next to Kyle.

"Stop always sneaking up to me!"

The girl laughed her pearly white smile, teeth bickering in the dull neon light.

"Hey, I am being trained in the art of stealth. I have to practice." She smiled innocently. "Besides, it's entertaining."

"Still, you keep delivering me heart-attacks time after time." The girl's grin only widened after hearing his comment.

"That, my friend, is one more reason not to stop doing it."

Lucky put her hand on Kyle's shoulder: "Kyle, just stop. The more you complain the more joy she finds in doing it." She had to try her best to stop a big smirk creeping up her face, but couldn't hide a small smile.

"Exactly, somebody who gets it!"

"By the way, can't deny that it's funny to see you jump a mile in the air every time she scares you." Now she didn't try to hide it.

Kyle pouted. "Hey, I thought you were on my side!"

"Oh, Kyle, I'm on nobody's side. You should know that by now."

As their chatter continued the room started filling up. Some people just ducked away in a dark corner, not even touching their plates. Most of the newbies ate alone, too scared to approach anyone. Some ate in small groups; but nobody came close to their group. Everybody who came to the Institute learned the social hierarchy pretty quickly. They knew their standards, and they knew they couldn't live up to their group's. Because, no matter how broken their group was, they were all trained in the art of survival. They were called 'High-Graders', as if it was just a normal school and they were just older students. The 'High Graders' were true masters of their powers, if they liked it or not, and the newbies were clumsy with it. They were the Elite in the local social hierarchy, and anyone ticking them off would feel it.

Among the Elite group you also had Jean McCallister, who slowly came strolling towards her group's table. She looked pale and had a fevery look in her eyes.

Everybody knew it had something to do with her tests, but nobody would even dare asking. That was a rule. Never talk about your tests, because then people start talking and nobody wants to hear the story of somebody who might be luckier than the other. That would only cause hate. She dropped down next to Felicity and instantly mingled in the conversation, which had now changed to her favorite subject.

"Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? No, Beethoven was way better. His compositions are always in a perfect symphony, even when played backwards."

Shelia interrupted: "Classic music? What about ACDC, The Red Hot Chillipeppers or Nirvana? Or Red, Asking Alexandria, Metallica, that kind of shit*. Now that is what I call real music. Nice beat, amazing guitar. Oh, or Bring me the Horizon!"

"Shelia? Bring me the Horizon? Really?"

"What? Hot singer alert!"

"Yeah, well their music sounds like the destruction waves I produce, not something I can play on my sax." Jean replied, "And besides, it's not like I listen to Beethoven in my free time." The girl rolled her eyes.

"Oh, yeah, like a castrated 16 year old with too much female hormones is that much better."

Jean squinted, "Justing Bieber is not bad!"

"Hah! You just admitted Justin Bieber is a castrated male-woman!" Shelia grinned widely.

In the meanwhile a boy they didn't knew had come closer. He scraped his voice: "Ahem, excuse me." He asked shakingly.

Felicity turned around and stared bitterly into a pair of big, scared blue eyes. "What?!" She sneered.

"Eh-h… Hi. I-I'm F-f-felix…"

"Yeah, whatever, Rookie"

The boy's face turned tomato-red and he stared at the floor.

"I-I was wondering if I could sit with you guys…"

The four children narrowed their eyes at the newcomer. Shelia decided to take the word again. "Lemme guess, you're new here?"

The Rookie shivered. "I am. I got here yesterday night. And today I had to do… horrible things. They made me hold an electrical wire for nearly 20 minutes. It… it was horrible."

The High-grader students stared at him, in their gazes a mingle between disgust, disbelief and, much to Felix's surprise, envy. He had always been good at 'reading' people, but right now it was more a curse than a blessing. So much hatred and misery packed in those little bodies.

Jean's eye twitched. She couldn't hold her temper anymore, this was the thing he should have never done, although there was no way he could have known. He shouldn't have approached them in the first place, but this was just unacceptable.

"Okay, let me explain things to you, Rooky." Pronouncing that last word mockingly, "This is how it works here. We have been here for a long time. We are trained. We can squash you like a little and annoying bug, which you are to me, and right now the only thing stopping me from doing that are the cameras pointing everywhere. But that won't stop us very long anymore. We are your obvious superiors. Everybody in this room is your superior, by the way, until you can prove yourself. Don't talk to us unless we talk to you, understand?"

The boy stared at the floor to hide the tears welling up in his eyes.

"Second of all, never, ever, like, EVER, talk about your 'tests'. We are with the most sane people in this building, so we just warn you because it's your first time, but if you talk about it with the wrong people you will end up with a knife in your back the moment you close your eyes."  
The girl smirked evilly, "If you are lucky."

The boy's eyes widened.

"Now, begone. I recommend you eat alone before you understand your standards. And if you haven't turned insane by then, you may talk to us. Oh, and by the way, if you don't like it here you can always leave." She smiled innocently.

The boy looked up, eyes filled with hope. "Really?"

"Yes, really." Jean's eyes started to glimmer in malice, "Just go talk to sweet little Milly in the corner there." She pointed backwards to a creepy-looking girl with pitch-black eyes and raven hair. "It will only hurt… a lot."

Suddenly Kyle's appearance started shifting to an exact copy of the girl. Then he changed into the most horrific monster Felix had ever seen, sending the Rookie away screaming.

Everybody was crazy in that place, that Madhouse. And how would the others be if they called themselves the 'sane' ones?

**So, what do you think of this bunch? I know that I portrayed them a bit differently from what I got in the forms, but all in all they are pretty sane; they just have their insane side, especially Shelia, but that's something you have yet to see. Oh, and Felix's still sane (But there are two more months to go. Who knows what'll happen in the meanwhile).**

**I know there is a girl that ran away from the Institute and now lives in the City, but I have not mentioned her in this chapter for the sake of the plot. All you have to know is that she used to be part of this little 'High Grader' group.**

***Shit meant in the good sense of the word, not to curse. And if you are shocked by the use of this kind of words, tune out. I rated this story T for a reason; but I guess everybody who has read Gone and therefore hasn't problems with lots of gore and blood doesn't really have problems word usage.**


End file.
